Schools grapple with enforcement of no-idle zones

Indiana law says parents picking up kids have five minutes to run engines

October 2, 2012

FRANKLIN, Ind. (AP) - If children want to go home in a warm car, then they'll have to spend less time goofing off after school.

State law say parents who pick up their children from school can leave their vehicles running for five minutes before they have to turn the engines off.

The law concerning indoor air quality requires schools to adopt policies that prevent bus drivers and parents from leaving their vehicles idle while they wait for their kids to come out of school, Franklin schools facility manager Bill Doty told the Daily Journal.

Local schools are starting the policies this year. But how to enforce the rule is another matter.

"My concern is, how do you enforce that with the parents? Do administrators have to go outside and ask parents to turn off their cars?" said Bill Long, Center Grove assistant superintendent.

Some schools say they will leave the monitoring to the parents themselves, while others say a knock at the window from an administrator might be in order.

The impetus for the policy is that less fumes from running vehicles will enter the school buildings through the ventilation systems if the drivers have to turn engines off while they wait, Doty said.

"It's not like there's a cloud of fumes going down the hallway, but there is a possibility that they can enter the building," Doty said.

Center Grove and Greenwood schools already had policies in place for bus drivers to turn off their vehicles while they waited, but the new policies will apply the same rules to parents.

Franklin schools started a policy for both buses and parents this year, Doty said.

The rules say drivers must turn off their vehicles after five minutes while they are on school property. But if the temperature is below 32 degrees, drivers are allowed to leave their vehicles running for a longer time.

To enforce the policies, Franklin and Greenwood schools have put up signs telling parents that the properties are "no idling zones," and Center Grove plans to put up signs once the school board approves the policy.

School officials say they have not received any complaints, but Long wonders what will happen when the weather gets colder and drivers want to keep their vehicles warm for the students.

Long said Center Grove does not have a plan for enforcing the rules yet; but early on, administrators could monitor parents and ask them to turn off their engines.

Franklin and Greenwood school officials say they do not monitor parents to see if they are following the five-minute rule.

Instead, Greenwood schools facility manager Larry Slone is more worried about the bus drivers leaving their vehicles running, because the buses have diesel engines that create more fumes and cost more when the buses are left idle.

The buses warm up in a garage before going out to pick up students, Slone said.

After they are on their routes, Slone said, he sometimes monitors the vehicles to make sure drivers are turning the buses off, but the buses are usually moving from stop to stop without much time to remain idle.

"There's only 30 minutes between each school's start time. We keep them moving then put them away," Slone said.